TWD: Best-Ever Brownies

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie featured a recipe for the best ever brownies.  It is also my FIRST time hosting for the group and I could not have been more excited to be trying a new brownie recipe!  In my opinion, this recipe had a lot to live up to.  A couple years ago, I went on a brownie baking spree where I tried to find the recipe that would become my go-to brownie recipe.  I tried every single brownie recipe from every single cooking magazine or cookbook I owned.  My results declared the fudgy, delicious, completely sinful brownies from the Baked cookbook to be the standard by which all other brownies would be judged.

Until this recipe came along.

My husband and I belong to the group of brownie-lovers who believe that the more dense, fudgy, close-to-being-raw brownies are the best.  Granted, we would never turn an opportunity to gobble down a cakey brownie...but our hearts truly lie with the super gooey variety.

These brownies did not disappoint in that department.  They were gooey to the point of being raw, but that is exactly what made them so sensationally irrisistible.  The secret lies in how the eggs are treated.  Half are incorporated immediately into the warm brownie batter while the rest are whipped until they are pale and light.  These are then folded gently into the batter immediately before transferring the brownies to the oven to bake.  My knife came out clean at 28 minutes baking and I let the brownies rest overnight before cutting into them the next afternoon.  I was a little shocked by how creamy they appeared and expressed my concerns to my husband, but he was too busy polishing off his third brownie to listen or care.  According to him, these are "the best brownies in the world."

Paul took the rest of the batch into work with him and returned home with an empty plate and no less than 10 requests for the recipe.  I'm telling you, these are good brownies.

My heart might still be with the Baked brownie, but I would make these again in a heartbeat.  I especially loved the suggestion in the cookbook about using them as a mix-in for homemade ice cream.  We will definitely be trying that next summer!

Best-Ever Brownies
from Baking with Julia

1 1/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 large eggs

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Sift the flour and salt together and set aside.

Melt the butter and chocolate together in a medium saucepan over low heat, stirring frequently and keeping a watchful eye on the pot to make certain the chocolate does not scorch.  Add 1 cup of the sugar to the mixture and stir for half a minute, then remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla.  Pour the mixture into a large bowl.

Put the remaining 1 cup sugar and the eggs into the bowl of a mixer and whisk by hand just to combine.  LIttle by little, pour half the sugar and eggs into the chocolate mixture, stirring gently but constantly with a rubber spatula so that the eggs don't set from the heat.  Fit the whisk attachment to the mixer and whip the remaining sugar and eggs until they are pale, thick, and doubled in volume, about 3 minutes.  Using the rubber spatula, delicately fold the whipped eggs into the chocolate mixture.  When the eggs are almost completely incorporated, gently fold in the dry ingredients.

Pour and scrape the batter into an unbuttered 9-inch square glass or ceramic pan.  Bake the brownies for 25-28 minutes, during which time they will rise a little and the top will turn dark and dry.  Cut into the center at about the 23-minutews mark to see how they are progressing.  They will be perfect if they are just barely set and still gooey.  Cool the brownies in the pan on a rack.  Cut into bars and serve.

The brownies will keep, covered, for 2-3 days at room temperature and can be frozen for up to a month!